We hope that you APPCA members were able to take advantage of the special 50 percent off deal we arranged with Fagor. Up until October 24, members in good standing could order Fagor portable induction cook tops and electric multi-use cookers (pressure cooker/rice cooker/slow cooker all in one) at half price. (Thanks for organizing this, April Lee!)

Like the hugely popular Instant Pots, these electric multicookers can be a little intimidating until you get used to how they work. And while you may initially limit yourself to the obvious–stock, soup, beans, yogurt, you’ll want to broaden your mindset and learn about the many additional ways you can use these machines.

So, for all of us novice multicooker owners, I thought I’d offer up some essential resources to get you started. Bookmark them and return again and again because invariably yet another cool way to use these machines will come up. And perhaps you’ll think of some yourself. If so, please share!

Hip Pressure Cooking: Founder Laura Pazzaglia has written two books on pressure cooking and her site is filled with all sorts of great information. Beyond the many recipes, she writes pieces on nutritional information, best cuts of meats, machine reviews, even tips for how to open the machine effectively (it makes a difference). There are videos, forums, filling guidelines, and time charts.

Facebook Instant Pot Community Public Group: If you’re on Facebook, this is an invaluable group to join. Check out recipes, get cookbook recommendations, ask questions. You’ll be totally surprised by the dishes people make in the electric multicookers. Something go wrong? Troubleshoot it with members. While you’re on Facebook, also check out Instant Pot Recipes.

Pressure Cooking Today: Need to figure out how to get started with your multicooker or, specifically, Instant Pot? Here’s a great site to help. You can also get help with how to convert a recipe to pressure cook, which buttons to press, learn the difference between quick pressure and natural pressure release, and get a boatload of indexed recipes from breakfast to sides to dessert.

How to Use an Instant Pot: The New York Times has created this indispensable page, written by Melissa Clark (who has a new book out, Dinner in an Instant). Consider this your ABC primer. Clark breaks down every component of the multicooker and how you’d want to use it, as well as how to experiment with it. Just as important, she tells you what not to cook in this machine and why. Plus Clark offers some recipes from her new book.

Instant Pot Videos: Love a good YouTube cooking video? Then subscribe to Instant Pot on YouTube. You’ll find a wealth of recipes as well as equipment instruction that will get you up to speed. Learn how to make chicken stock, pork roast, unsoaked beans and grains, and chicken and pancetta risotto.

Instant Pot Recipes on Pinterest: Finally, the circus that is Pinterest can lead you to some interesting resources for using your multicooker. There are plenty of links to recipes, cheat sheets, cooking time lists, and mistakes to avoid.

While we’re at it, check out Fagor’s site for recipes to create using their (and perhaps your) multicooker.

Are you an Instant Pot or Fagor Multicooker user? Do you have a blog with recipes? Please share it here! And let us know if you have other great online resources we should know about.

Not an APPCA member? Now’s the perfect time to join! Go to personalchef.com to learn about all the benefits that come with membership.

And if you are a member and have a special talent to share on this blog, let us know so we can feature you!

If you’re starting to plan holiday dinner parties for clients, consider the Peruvian ceviche. These are distinctively different from Mexican ceviches in terms of the ingredients. Chef Emmanuel Piqueras, who runs the kitchen of Pisco Rotisserie & Cevicheria in San Diego and was born and raised in Lima, explained to me that Peru is a true melting pot of cultures–from Chinese to Japanese to Italian. And the ceviches certainly reflect that, as do many other dishes he makes, like the stir fry “Lomo Saltado,” a stir fried tenderloin with tomatoes, green onions, and red onions, melded in a sauce made with soy sauce, oyster sauce, ginger, and garlic, reflecting Peru’s Cantonese influence.

Piqueras has spent his life in kitchens–first under the tutelage of his grandfather’s cook, Jesus, who he says taught him to touch ingredients and make rice. “She was my mentor,” he said. “I always watched her.”

His other grandfather, an ex-Marine, took Piqueras fishing as a child and by age eight he was making ceviche. A career cooking, however, was not what his successful parents had in mind for him. (His mom was the first female mayor of Lima.) Trying to live up to their high expectations, he went to university and studied marketing, but his heart wasn’t in it. At age 22, he went to work as an apprentice to chef Don Cucho La Rosa at his Lima restaurant, Pantagruel before attending Le Cordon Bleu and moving to Spain to train with Chef Juan Mari Arzak in San Sebastian. Piqueras returned to Lima but the bad economy sent him off to the U.S., where he opened Andina in Portland, Mixtura in Seattle, Limon in San Francisco, and Panca in New York City’s West Village. In that time, he also became the host and co-producer of Sabor y Fusion, a popular Peruvian cooking show.

Fascinating career trajectory, huh?

Piqueras’ ceviches are very simple to make, with basic prep of the seafood and vegetables taking up the time in the kitchen, followed by mixing the sauces and then tossing the prepped ingredients together and plating. These are wonderful dishes to enjoy year-round, and pack a visual punch that’s perfect for holiday dinner parties for clients.

Method
In a cold bowl mix the ahi tuna squares, the Persian cucumber, pinch of salt, the Nikkei sauce and the lime juice. Mix carefully.
In a white china bowl serve the ceviche mix, garnish with avocado squares and topped with the shredded daikon root.

The UCSD Multiple Sclerosis Expo was held in San Diego on Sunday, October 8 on the Medical School Campus of University of California San Diego (UCSD).

The Expo was designed and offered in support of individuals living with Multiple Sclerosis, caregivers, physicians, and all interested parties. A program developed and offered by Dr. Revere Kinkel, Clinical Director and Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program, offered speakers on “An Integrated Medicine Approach to Living with Multiple Sclerosis” as well as a Keynote Speaker topic, “Medical Cannabis for Chronic Neurological Diseases.” Exhibitors offered information and demonstrations of programs and equipment in support of MS patients needs.

A menu of anti-inflammatory, plant-based and MS program-specific foods was offered by Candy Wallace, APPCA’s founder and executive director, a duo of talented and well-known San Diego chefs, Mary Platis and Chef Mia Saling, as well as a team of talented volunteers. The chefs offered culinary coaching for MS patients and caregivers as well as demos, information sources and healthy plant-based anti-inflammatory recipes. The demos included how to peel fresh turmeric and fresh ginger with a teaspoon, how to break down a watermelon into triangles, and an olive oil tasting.

“It was a beautiful, supportive, enlivening day spent answering questions, assisting in designing menu plans for patients, coaching, answering questions and just enjoying being helpful,” Candy said. She was there with plenty of food samples to show patients and caregivers support of their eating fresh food rather than prepared HMR’s or worse yet, frozen gunk from the cases in the grocery store, and provided info and examples of how food prepared from a fresh local source can have a terrific impact on their wellbeing.

Candy, Mary, and Mia not only served food, but were available to answer attendee questions about how to shop and cook for themselves in support of their–or their loved one’s–specific medical challenge.

Here are a couple of recipes from the dishes they served. Candy explained that the vinaigrette recipe accompanied a demonstration on how to use a microplane to zest citrus and how zested citrus and chopped fresh herbs can enhance dressings and sauces.

APPCA’s MidAtlantic Regional Chapter, or MARC, held their annual fall meeting September 24 at the Olney, Maryland, home of Iva Barrerra-Oro. The nine attendees had a packed day, starting with a light breakfast and meet and greet, followed by basic old and new business issues to address.

Then came the meat of the gathering: first a Fagor Pressure Cooker Demo, conducted by April Lee. As you know from an earlier blog post, APPCA members are able to get a 50 percent discount on selected Fagor equipment until Oct. 24. So April did a demo on Fagor’s electric 8-quart multi-cooker.

She likes the model because it frees up a burner and at high pressure is more than adequate to quick cook a variety of foods. According to April, she uses the multi-cooker all the time for stews, stock, long braises, corned beef, and more. As she pointed out, using the pressure cooker allows her to start a dish and let it cook unattended while she takes care of other tasks. As part of her demo, April prepared a Thai Chicken Green Curry with Kobucha Squash and Eggplant. She shared the recipe, which follows below.

Following April’s demo, the group held a business round table that allowed the participants to discuss how they’ve faced business challenges or grown their business and get help on a major challenge they need to resolve. That was supposed to be followed by a SCORE presentation from this year’s chapter president Keith Steury that described the nonprofit agency that helps small business and explained its various offerings–from mentors to a library filled with business templates, articles and e-guides, and videos and podcasts. Due to time constraints, Keith is sending the information from the presentation to the participants to review on their own.

Following a potluck lunch, Bernard Henry gave a knife sharpening demo, during which he demonstrated using a wet stone, which he noted, is time consuming but gets the best result because it’s more gentle on the knife. He also explained how to use a manual sharpening machine and gave an overview of the best types of knives to buy.

Following Bernard’s demo, Keith did a wrap up of the day and the group came up with proposed dates and locations for a spring 2018 meeting before the event concluded at 3 p.m.

Directions:
1. Cut chicken into large chunks and season with salt. Also season cubed eggplant and squash.

2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker over medium-high heat (“brown” setting on Fagor multicooker) until shimmering. Add garlic, ginger, coriander, and cumin and cook, stirring, until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add curry paste and cook, stirring another 2 minutes. NOTE: You can actually just put all the ingredients in the pot and pressure cook on high for 13 minutes without browning first. Browning brings out a deeper flavor in the spices, but it’s not nec-essary.

3. Stir in coconut milk and fish sauce. Add half the squash and eggplant. Add chicken and top with the remaining squash and eggplant. Seal pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 13 minutes.

4. Release pressure, remove lid, and stir in chopped cilantro and Thai basil. Softened vegetables will thicken stew upon stirring. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle the stew into serving bowls and garnish with a few whole Thai basil leaves. Serve with rice and lime wedges on side.

Do you live in a part of the country that has several APPCA members? Contact us if you’d like to start up a chapter!

Not an APPCA member? Now’s the perfect time to join! Go to personalchef.com to learn about all the benefits that come with membership.

And if you are a member and have a special talent to share on this blog, let us know so we can feature you!

Are you a person who plans ahead? Well, if you’re heading towards retirement–or at least slowing down a bit–coming up with a strategy for what to do when you retire should be on your to-do list.

That’s something APPCA member Anne Blankenship of Designed Cuisine in Dallas has been doing. She sent us a note to tell us about her plans and we asked her to share it with the rest of our members. Take a look:

I looked up the other day and realized that my upcoming birthday would put me another year closer to Medicare and only 2 years from retirement – Yikes! I absolutely love being a personal chef and having come into it so late in life (at 50+), that I really treasure every day in a career that is so rewarding and satisfying.

It made me start thinking about what would I do when I retired? Never been the kind of person to sit on my behind, and I enjoy staying active as much as possible. I attended culinary school for the experience but in the back of my mind was the thought – “well, when my body starts to give out, maybe I can teach cooking if I have some type of certification.” The certification aspect of finishing culinary school kept me going as much as the knowledge and experience I gained. Proudly graduating as a “Certified Culinarian” was a big day!

As retirement looms closer I started researching about what people do when they retire, why some people are happier in retirement than others, and that if one PLANS for their “golden years” they are well-prepared and more satisfied when this life-changing event occurs. Ah, that word “plan” caught my eye, as all my friends know that I am the one in the group that takes charge, plans events, and am affectionately called “She Who Organizes.” Activities such as volunteering, substitute teaching and other jobs for those who are retired came up in my reading and it started to sink in – I really could teach culinary school when I retired. So my planning/strategy of finishing culinary school had paid off with that little voice in the back of my head saying “finish school so you can teach someday.”

Putting some action into all the research I had done, I took a deep breath and decided to contact a community college in the area where I plan to spend 6 months of the year. The worst they could do was to say “no.” My plan is to spend 6 months in the mountains in northeastern Arizona where it is so beautiful and cool in the summer months, with plenty of hiking, fishing and similar activities available. There are many retirees in the area and I was thinking these people would be my potential students. The college responded quickly (a pleasant surprise) and put me in touch with the HR person. Since I knew I would be out there in August of this year, I asked if I could meet with her, explaining my idea and that although it would be a few years away, teaching culinary classes at the college was my interest.

Wanting to be prepared, I had sent ahead by e-mail all the information I could about my certification, my memberships in the American Culinary Federation, Texas Chef’s Association, etc. I was lacking information about my membership in APPCA, so made a call and spoke with Candy. She graciously volunteered to write a letter of recommendation for me and the college was quite pleased to receive it. A super bonus to being an APPCA member!

I had a very nice interview with the college administrator/HR person during my vacation there in August. During my meeting, she explained that once I was vetted, I could set my own schedule for the classes, curriculum, class size and fee (the college takes a percentage). This sounded like heaven! At the end of our meeting she said she would start a file on me and to please stay in touch. They currently have one culinary instructor and are considering building a kitchen at one of their campus locations in the future. I am hoping they vote “yes” on funding for a new kitchen!

So if you are approaching retirement and need some ideas as to what to do with yourself, consider sharing your knowledge and talents with others who want to learn about cooking. I always advocate that teaching cooking is teaching a life skill, and feel like I am “paying it forward” when I do so.

Are you getting close to retirement? What plans are you making for when you’re done with working?

Not an APPCA member? Now’s the perfect time to join! Go to personalchef.com to learn about all the benefits that come with membership.

And if you are a member and have a special talent to share on this blog, let us know so we can feature you!